SIZAKUYENZA

Sizakuyenza provides free health and wellness services that include a child protection program, a safe house for women and children, and counseling programs for local communities on the Cape Flats. The organization’s  "House of Smiles" is a haven for abused women and their children. Sizakuyenza typically hosts about 10 women and their families for 3 months or longer in an encouraging and motivating environment.

Abuse victims are  trained in household skills and Sizakuyenza helps them find employment so that they will be able to support themselves and their families. They also receive one-on-one counseling sessions. AIAIA funds support basic living necessities for women and their children and defray training expenses as the victims prepare to live independent lives moving forward.

Cape Flats (“the Flats”) has been described as ‘apartheid's dumping ground.’ From the 1950s on, the area became home to people the apartheid government designated as non-White. Race-based legislation such as the Group Areas Act and pass laws either forced non-white people out of more central urban areas designated for white people and into government-built townships in the Flats, or made living in the area illegal, forcing many people designated as Black and Colored into informal settlements elsewhere in the Flats.